Traditional priest Nana Kwaku Bonsam has offered advice on marriage, intimacy, and self-care, urging couples to balance spiritual practices with practical effort in sustaining relationships.

Speaking on Let’s Talk on Joy Prime on Tuesday, May 5, he drew a distinction between genuine traditional healing and harmful practices, stressing that authentic healing should be restorative.

He described traditional healing as the use of “herbs, leaves, and roots to help people to put together”, adding that it should serve a natural and restorative purpose. He, however, condemned practices he considered harmful, stating that he has no tolerance for such methods.

“Traditional healing should restore and strengthen, not destroy,” he stressed.

Kwaku Bonsam also highlighted physical appearance and self-care as important but often overlooked aspects of relationships. He noted that some women seek spiritual intervention to regain their partners’ attention, but he often advises them to focus on improving their presentation instead.

“It’s not the spiritual charm; it’s the dressing, because he changed his hair, did the nails, wearing a sexy outfit,” he said.

According to him, when partners take care of their appearance, it naturally strengthens emotional bonds and helps sustain relationships.

However, he cautioned against relying on physical appearance alone in marriage, urging couples to prioritise character over looks.

“In marriage, you don’t look at the physical. Look at the heart,” he said, adding that “beauty fades with time while love and a good heart endure.”

He summarised his view with the phrase “use heart to marriage”, stressing that emotional connection is essential for long-term stability in relationships.

On intimacy, he described it as a critical component of marriage, noting that dissatisfaction in that area often becomes a major source of conflict between couples.

Nana Kwaku Bonsam concluded that a strong marriage requires effort on multiple levels—emotional, physical, and spiritual—emphasising self-care, character, and intimacy as key pillars of lasting relationships.